To Do Right
by BrokePerception
Summary: Set after 3.13 Trust No Bitch (Season Finale). They sealed the deal, and they knew the future they had wanted had never truly been lost, as hopeless as it had once seemed to both.


John Bennett was a nervous man. Today, he felt even more nervous than usual as he sat at a table in the visitor's lounge of Litchfield Penitentiary with his seven-month-old daughter, Elysia, as they awaited the girl's mother. Of course, normally, he would have had to be on Dayanara Diaz' visitor's list first and be approved, but Maxwell had owed him a small favor.

He knew that he had been an ass and knew that they couldn't just pick up where they had left off, and that he should be glad if Daya didn't turn back as soon as she saw him and that it was shitty of him to try and mollify the Latina with the sight of her daughter. That was not the only reason why John Bennett had brought her there, though. In fact, it was but a small part of it ── nearly coincidence; a bonus of sorts.

He swallowed when he saw 'his' Daya pass through the doors and the way Maxwell indicated him, as her visitor. John Bennett saw the way Daya halted, the way she doubted, then seemed to decide to put a smile, however forced, on her tired face and make her way to the chair that was opposite his. She didn't say a word as she sat down but smiled at Elysia and reached for one of her tiny hands with one of her own, bigger ones. "Hello!" she greeted her daughter.

John didn't say a word. He knew that she hadn't seen Elysia for months now and thought she deserved the time she got with her now, however little. He waited with all the patience he owned, until Daya blinked and looked right at him. He saw how his fiancée's ── or was she? ── chocolate-colored eyes became clouded with unresolved hurt and heartache that he knew he was the cause of. "Why?" was all she could say.

"When I saw the kind of dad that Cesar is, or was, I panicked, and I realized that I didn't know how to be a father, and that even though I thought he was a fucked-up one, I didn't know how to really do better. The last that I wanted was irresponsible as a dad," the former officer spoke. "I got back in the US Army for one year," he clarified.

The clear hurt in Daya's eyes softened. She became very confused. "Your leg..." she began. "How?"

"With a bit of argumentation and a better prosthetic," John answered and waited a few seconds before he spoke again, "I'll never regret that I fell in love with you in this prison, and I'll never regret that we had Elysia ── however unexpected she was. I wasn't happy with who I was as a person, and I wanted to change that. I learned a lot in the army on my tour in Afghanistan, and I decided to go back to find who I am and who I hope to be as a father and a man. After a year there, I knew what I had to do."

"You decided to go back... _to war_?"

"I did," John responded. "I knew that I didn't do right by you or our daughter, but I plan to do my best to change that and build a home for you, both of you, and to be the father and man that you deserve. If I've lost my chance, I will accept it."

Dayanara's mind reeled with this information. "I..." she began. "You've got no clue what you've done. I nearly gave her away to Mendez's mother."

John Bennett bit back any questions of 'how' and 'why'. "I will accept it if you're not interested," he said in a calm tone that he had to fight to keep. Mendez's mother? If she wanted to be with him still, he would have time enough to ask her about the details, and he needed her to be with him, even if he knew he hadn't proven it before he left. He knew the fact he had asked Daya to marry him didn't matter anymore right now. He knew that he was right back to square one or worse.

"I'm not," Daya said.

John Bennett nodded calmly. It was hard for him to do so as he felt how his heart clenched at what she had just said. "I thought you would like to know Elysia's taken care of well, until you're released from Litchfield. The family she's with right now is very kind," he said, "I hope you don't mind I go visit her when I can."

Daya managed to shake her head. "No. You're her father," she responded, "Do they know who you are?"

John nodded. "Indeed."

Dayanara, on her turn, bit back any questions of 'how' and 'why' and what that meant. She suppressed the part of her that still loved him and that wanted for him to be okay, be free ── the last she ever wanted, was for him to go to jail for 'rape' when that was the last that had happened between them. When she saw the way he stroked their daughter's cheek, she knew she still loved him. He seemed so tender. What he had done, was shitty, but in that moment she felt like her 'ideal' of a life with him might not be as far off as she had thought.

John sighed when he eyed the mother of his daughter once more. "I promised I wouldn't stay very long, so I guess that I should go now and take little Elysia back. I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you; you've created this," he spoke as he pointed at the baby that lay in his arms. She had lots of her mommy, with her father's nose, he confirmed when he let his eyes wander over her face. He could only hope for her to become as beautiful as her mother one day, but part of him didn't doubt it at all.

"John... Would you not be put in jail if you admitted you're her father?"

"Maybe not," John said when he met Daya's eye. "I have taken a lawyer from the money I had saved, and he says that there's a window for us to work with ── a loophole. If I get the chance, I will do right by you," he repeated.

Dayanara Diaz bit her lip. She believed the words that spilled from John's mouth, saw the truth in his eyes. "Would you still marry me?" she asked.

A small smile crossed John's face. "Of course. If you'll still marry me."

"Leave me one more time, and I'll kill you with my bare hands," she hissed, low enough so only he could hear. When he nodded at her to say that he understood and that he knew she meant it, she felt a tiny smile pull at her lips. "I can tell that you'll be a great father, because you already are. I'll hope that you'll be half as great a spouse, from now on."

He didn't miss the small stab, but he let it go and slid his feet a bit to the side, so that it met hers. With the small gesture, 'holding feet', they sealed the deal, and they knew the future they had wanted had _never_ truly been lost, as hopeless as it had once seemed to both.


End file.
